Word studies · Hebrew · Strong's H3722
כָּפַר · kâphar · appears 102 times in the Old Testament
In one line: Guilt covered and cleared, at God's own cost.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
Leviticus 17:11
Kaphar is to atone — to cover, wipe away or ransom, so that guilt no longer stands between God and His people.
Kaphar is the verb of the sacrificial system: blood makes atonement on the altar, the priest atones for the people, and on the Day of Atonement the whole nation is covered for a year. It always concerns the removal of what would otherwise make God's presence dangerous.
Kaphar's basic sense is “to cover” — the same root is used for coating the ark with pitch — and it extends to covering an offense, paying a ransom, or wiping clean. The related noun kapporeth names the covering of the ark, the place where blood was sprinkled and God said He would meet with His people.
“Atonement” is an English coinage — at-one-ment — that describes the result; the Hebrew describes the action, and it is physical: something is covered, wiped, or paid. That keeps the doctrine from floating free of the altar it came from.
Kaphar (H3722) appears 94 times in the Hebrew Bible, and gives the name of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Atonement establishes that fellowship with a holy God is possible only when guilt is dealt with, and that God Himself provides the means: “I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement.” Hebrews reads the whole system as a shadow whose substance is Christ, who entered “once for all” with His own blood.
Bring the specific sin you keep managing to the God who covers rather than the conscience that accuses. Say it plainly, and then leave it under the blood rather than carrying it back out.
to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel
Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.
Genesis 6:14They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred.
Exodus 29:33He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
Leviticus 1:4But if the man has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest along with the ram of atonement, by which the atonement is made for him.
Numbers 5:8Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.
Deuteronomy 21:8Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
1 Samuel 3:14Press and hold atonement in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.